Riverdale‘s Cole Sprouse is a man in mourning in the new dramedy Wake. He’s part of an ensemble cast that finds itself trapped at a wake where everything seems to be going wrong. Before the film makes its festival premiere next month, Collider is proud to exclusively present a first look at Wake and its cast. In the film, Sprouse plays Cade; he’s one of four semi-estranged siblings who are thrown back together after their father dies by suicide.
Now, reunited with sisters Rose, Cassie, and Becca, he has to deal not only with them and their wildly contrasting grieving methods, but with overbearing relatives, clueless guests, and a funeral director who suffers from an intense aversion to death. Wake is set to make its world premiere early next month at the Heartland International Film Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana; it will then screen later in October at the Newport Beach Film Festival in Newport Beach, California.
Sprouse has recently starred in the indie thrillers Neglected and Under Fire. In Wake, he’s part of an impressive ensemble cast. It also features performances by Penelope Ann Miller (Carlito’s Way), Chris Parnell (Rick and Morty), Nelson Franklin (New Girl), Riki Lindhome (Wednesday), Michael Learned (The Waltons), Ali Astin (Candy Cane Lane), Willow Shields (The Hunger Games), Kelly O’Malley (Swing), Ali Gallo (Forever), Michael Shacket (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle), Oliver Durante (V/H/S/Halloween), Sasha Compère (Single Drunk Female), and Dylan Alvarado (The Mandalorian).
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Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Netflix Character Would Be Your Best Friend? Dustin · Emily · Wednesday · Gi-hun
Some friends drag you out of the house. Some sit with you on the worst night of your life. Netflix has written both, plus the one who tells you the truth you have been avoiding all week. Answer eight quick questions about how you actually do friendship, and find out which of them was always going to end up in your corner.
🧢Dustin(Stranger Things)
🗼Emily(Emily in Paris)
🕷️Wednesday(Wednesday)
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🟢Gi-hun(Squid Game)
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01
How do you usually end up making a new friend? The origin story says a lot about the friendship that follows it.
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02
What is a perfect Saturday with your best friend? Friendship is mostly built out of very ordinary hours.
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03
You call them at two in the morning. What happens? This is the real test of a friendship, and everybody knows it.
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04
What do you want from them when you are clearly wrong? The best friendships are the ones that survive being corrected.
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05
What do your friends actually value about you? The friend you attract says something about the friend you are.
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06
You have a falling out. How does it go? How a friendship repairs itself matters more than how it breaks.
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07
What do you actually need a best friend for? Everybody is missing something. The right friend fills that gap.
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08
Ten years from now, what keeps the two of you close? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who you get.
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The Group Chat Has Spoken Your Best Friend Is…
Four Netflix characters, four completely different ways of showing up
for somebody. This is the one who fits how you actually do friendship, and what having them in your
life would be like.
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Stranger Things · Netflix · Since 2016
Dustin Henderson
You do not do friendship at half volume, and neither does he.
What you want is somebody who says yes to the plan before you have finished describing the
plan.
Dustin is the friend the entire show runs on: loyal past the point of sense,
enthusiastic about everything, and incapable of leaving anybody behind.
You have the same instinct. Your friendships are loud, specific and slightly ridiculous,
and they last for decades because of it.
He is also the one person who would take your strangest interest completely seriously,
which is far rarer than it sounds.
You would have a group chat. It would never once be quiet.
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Emily in Paris · Netflix · Since 2020
Emily Cooper
You are the friend who makes things happen, and so is she.
Together you would be mildly exhausting to everyone around you and completely delighted with
yourselves.
Emily treats an ordinary Tuesday as something that could be turned into an occasion,
which is either the best or the worst quality in a friend depending on your energy
levels.
You share her refusal to sit still. Neither of you has ever accepted a night in when
something was happening somewhere else.
She is far more loyal than people give her credit for. She defends her friends loudly,
publicly, and occasionally before checking the facts.
She would post the photo without asking. You would forgive her, because it is a very
good photo.
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Wednesday · Netflix · Since 2022
Wednesday Addams
You have no patience for pleasant lies, and she has no ability to
tell them. What looks like coldness from the outside is the most reliable friendship on this
list.
Wednesday never says a kind thing she does not mean, which makes the rare ones count for
an enormous amount.
You would rather be told the truth than be made comfortable. She is constitutionally
incapable of offering you anything else.
Underneath all of it she is ferociously protective. She simply refuses to make a
performance out of caring.
Do not expect a birthday message. Do expect her to ruin anyone who wrongs you.
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Squid Game · Netflix · 2021–2025
Seong Gi-hun
You look after whoever is having the worst day. So does he. It is
the least strategic way to move through the world and the best possible quality in a friend.
Gi-hun is not the strongest player in Squid Game, or the cleverest. He is the one who
keeps choosing to protect somebody else, over and over, at genuine cost to himself.
You have the same instinct. You notice who is struggling and you stay with them, long
after anybody would blame you for leaving.
He is a flawed friend, and that is part of why it lands. He lets people down, then comes
back and tries again, which is more than most manage.
He would give you his last chance and never once mention that he had done it.
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Who Are the Creatives Behind ‘Wake’?
Wake is directed by Devon Michaels, an actor who appeared on Gilmore Girls, House M.D., and The Rookie; the film serves as his feature-length directorial debut. He also co-wrote the script for the film with Kelly O’Malley, who also stars. O’Malley penned the script after her own father’s suicide, using it to explore and process her grief. O’Malley produced the film with Michel Rangel and Eugenio Villamar; Sprouse executive produces with Jodi Schwartz Gomillion.
Wake will have its world premiere at the Heartland International Film Festival in October in Indianapolis, Indiana; it will then have its West Coast premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival later that month. Check out our exclusive images above and stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
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